Contents
              Purpose of the checklist                                   1
              Why is gender important in education projects?             3
                Key issues                                               4
              Key questions and action points in the project cycle       7
                Gender issues in education projects                      8
                Gender issues in basic and primary education            12
                Gender issues in secondary education                    14
                Gender issues in tertiary education                     15
                Gender issues in nonformal education and training       16
              Strategies for gender mainstreaming in education          19
              Appendices
                1:Project Implementation Process                        22
                2:Sample Terms of Reference for Gender Specialist       23
              Selected References                                       24
       Abbreviations
              DMC       developing member country
              GAD       gender and development
              ISA       initial social assessment
              M&E       monitoring and evaluation
              NGO       nongovernment organization
              PPTA      project preparatory technical assistance
              TOR       terms of reference
                    Purpose of the checklist
                          The checklist is meant to as-     Guidelines on the preparation
                          sist staff and consultants in     of gender-sensitive terms of
                          implementing the Bank’s           reference for the ISA and the
                          policy and strategic objectives   social analysis are also inc-
                          on gender and development         luded, as are case studies
                          (GAD) (see the Bank’s Policy      from ADB’s project portfolio,
                          on Gender and Development,        to demonstrate good practices
                          May 1998). It guides users        in mainstreaming gender in
                          through all stages of the         education projects.
                          project/program cycle in iden-
                          tifying the main gender issues    For project preparation, the
                          in the education sector and in    checklist may be used to-
                          designing appropriate gender-     gether with the Bank’s
                          sensitive strategies, compo-      Handbook for Incorporation
                          nents, and indicators to re-      of Social Dimensions in
                          spond to gender issues.           Projects (1994), Guidelines
                                                            on Benefit Monitoring and
                          ADB staff should use the          Evaluation, and the Briefing
                          checklist in identifying gender   Papers on Women series.
                          issues in the initial social as-  Other useful references are
                          sessment (ISA) during the         listed at the back of this bro-
                          fact-finding phase of project     chure.
                          preparatory technical assis-
                          tance (PPTA). Consultants         The checklist was prepared
                          should use it in carrying out     by Susan Wendt and Shireen
                          more detailed social analysis     Lateef using preliminary
                          during the PPTA. It should be     work by a staff consultant,
                          emphasized, however, that         Penelope Schoeffel. Mary Ann
                          not all questions are relevant    Asico edited the text and,
                          to all projects, and staff and    with the help of Jun dela Cruz,
                          consultants must select the       prepared the final layout.
                          questions that are most rel-      Marivic Guillermo provided
                          evant in the specific context.    production assistance.
                                             5
     Why is gender
     important in
     education projects?
         Education is a human right and an essential tool for
         achieving equality, development, and peace. Nondis-
         criminatory education benefits both men and women
         and ultimately equalizes relations between them.
         To become agents for change, women must have equal
         access to educational opportunities. Literacy of women
         is key to improved health, nutrition, and education,
         and to the empowerment of women as full participants
         in decision making in society.
         Investment in formal and nonformal education and
         training for girls and women, with its exceptionally high
         social and economic return, has proved to be one of
         the best means of achieving sustainable development
         and economic growth.
         Every person must have access to basic education and
         other essential services. Without such access, the poor
         in particular, and their children, will have little oppor-
         tunity to improve their economic status or to partici-
         pate fully in society.
   6
         Key issues
                          Education is key to improving the status of women. A pre-
                          liminary step in gender analysis in the education sector
                          will be to examine the gender indicators for the sector in
                          the developing member countries (DMCs). The following ques-
                          tions should be asked:
                              ÜWhat are the overall participation rates at the
                                 various levels of education?
                              ÜHow do girls compare with boys, and women with
                                 men, in educational participation rates at the
                                 various levels of education?
                              ÜDo the gender participation rates differ between
                                 regions?
                              ÜWhat are the broader social and economic factors
                                 that influence access to educational opportunities?
                          On the basis of this preliminary analy-
                          sis, the extent of a project’s GAD po-     Women and
                          tential can be evaluated. Education       the poor must
                          projects with the highest GAD poten-
                          tial will be those that target the ar-      have equal
                          eas of greatest gender inequity in the       access to
                          education system and regions of a
                          DMC. For example in industrializing         educational
                          DMCs, or in modern urban areas            opportunities
                          within DMCs, women may benefit
                          most from projects that include strat-        to be full
                          egies to increase female enrollment        participants
                          at the senior secondary and higher
                          educational levels, particularly in          in society
                          technical and nontraditional career
                          areas for women. In DMCs or in ar-
                          eas within them that have a predomi-
                          nantly rural population, projects that focus on the primary
                          education of girls, nonformal education in rural and small com-
                          munity settings, literacy classes, and distance education may
                          be the most beneficial to women.